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[Donald X.]

Here they are at last, the Shelters. In an all Dark Ages game, your starting deck is 7 Coppers, Necropolis, Overgrown Estate, Hovel. When mixing sets up, the rule for using Shelters is similar to the Platinum / Colony rule.

Shelters may not be worth the 1 VP of an Estate, but they are way better to have in your deck. Necropolis lets you go a little heavier on terminals from the get-go. Overgrown Estate gives you an extra little treat if you ever manage to trash it. And Hovel has a built-in way to get rid of it - you move out of that Hovel, and into a nice Duchy or something.

You can't buy Shelters, but they cost $1. That's just to shake up how various cards interact with them. A Remodel doesn't take you as far as it used to. And with only one being a Victory card, that Crossroads doesn't go to as many places. Baron doesn't know what to do with these. And an Ambassador can't even give them away, since they have no piles to return to. On the other hand, they are fine places to get animals for your Menagerie. And how much exactly can you build Fairgrounds up to now, in games without Black Market? Man. A lot.

Even though I previewed 15 cards, only 9 of them were kingdom cards. There are 26 kingdom cards left that you haven't seen. That's as many as a whole set! It's like there weren't any previews at all. And yet they're over. Someone will no doubt post the card list after the set comes out at GenCon next week, and I will post a Secret History shortly afterwards.

[Kuildeous]

That's all the previews?

Nooooooooooo!

Gotta get my fix!

[werothegreat]

Um?

[Varsinor]

When mixing sets up, the rule for using Shelters is similar to the Platinum / Colony rule.

Will there always be either all three Shelters or none in the starting decks or do the rules for mixed sets include a way to start with one or two Shelters plus two or one Estates?

[dor]

When mixing sets up, the rule for using Shelters is similar to the Platinum / Colony rule.

Will there always be either all three Shelters or none in the starting decks or do the rules for mixed sets include a way to start with one or two Shelters plus two or one Estates?

Sounds straight forward - either all or none.

[jotheonah]

In this edition of "Which of his own rules has Donald X. broken today?" We get the closest we're likely to ever see to a pure reaction card...

[Galzria]

Hmm...

[jsh357]

So shelters are nothing like what I expected (some form of defense).  I don't mind, though.  Starting a game with a +2 Action card sounds like it opens the door for so many strategies.  Looking forward to getting my copy of Dark Ages.  Thanks for all the previews.

[Grujah]

How much suckier does Baron get with these? Can somebody calculate the chance that, if Baron is in game, that these will be too, if chance they will appear is number of Dark Ages cards * 0.1 ?

[carstimon]

I'd like to be able to choose, depending on my strategy. That seems like a reasonable house rule.

[rinkworks]

Thanks for running these previews, Donald.  This has been fantastic.  You did say Dark Ages was your favorite set, but I don't think even us die-hards expected you to knock it as far out of the park as it appears to have done.  This expansion changes the whole Dominion world for sure.

[ehunt]

4 and a hovel with island on the board is going to be the new mint fool's gold - elite opening that you have to be a little lucky to get.

[DStu]

Seems like a well-deserved nerf for Scout for me, after all the love it got from the rest of the set...

[Varsinor]

Shelters may not be worth the 1 VP of an Estate, but they are way better to have in your deck.

On average yeah, but I bet there are quite a few exceptions where they are worse than Estates would be, mainly due to the cost of only one.
For instance in a game with Upgrade and/or Remake and/or Develop without $2 Kingdom cards. Then you have to take an Estate when you trash them. With Develop, you even have to take an additional Copper!

[Grujah]

Seems a bit luck-based? I mean, if you open double terminal and pair them with Necro, and opponent doesn't.. And if those terminals are Swindler/Swindler.

I mean, opening with these are totally different story. Well, necropolis mostly.


But is sure going to make Puzzles fun 

[Qvist]

Wait, so finally have our first non-Action Reaction card right? So you can't play it right? I was always waiting for that to happen. Let's see if there will be a regular non-Action Reaction kingdom card.

[WanderingWinder]

Wait, so finally have our first non-Action Reaction card right? So you can't play it right? I was always waiting for that to happen. Let's see if there will be a regular non-Action Reaction kingdom card.

Tunnel. And Fool's Gold.

[werothegreat]

Baron has gotten shafted so hard.

[Varsinor]

Seems a bit luck-based? I mean, if you open double terminal and pair them with Necro, and opponent doesn't.. And if those terminals are Swindler/Swindler.

Actually, Swindler seems to get considerably worse in a game with Shelters: If you hit a Shelter, it gets trashed without replacement absent a $1 kingdom card! (I. e. absent only Poor House so far.)

That and Swindler gets much worse anyway against benefit-on-trash cards.

[Wolphmaniac]

Re: the Fairgrounds comment, well, it's clear that Fairgrounds just got a lot better and could be powerful in Dark Ages games where there are so many unique cards to gain.  However, it will still be quite difficult to get to 20 different cards, never mind having a functional deck with 20 different cards.  Getting 15 different cards and popping Fairgrounds as a $6 Province is now much easier to do, but all players will probably go for this so the Fairgrounds will be more or less a wash and it will still come down to who can get more points other places. 

I guess what I'm saying is that I wish Fairgrounds were two points for every FOUR different cards (not five) or, similarly, one point for every two different cards. 

I bet that whoever gets 25 different cards in a Dark Ages/Black Market/Fairgounds game and is getting 10 points per Fairgrounds is actually unlikely to win the game. 

[Qvist]

Wait, so finally have our first non-Action Reaction card right? So you can't play it right? I was always waiting for that to happen. Let's see if there will be a regular non-Action Reaction kingdom card.

Tunnel. And Fool's Gold.

Right. I formulated it wrong. It's the first Reaction card that you only can use for its reaction (You buy Fool's Gold mainly for the money and Tunnel often for the 2VP). If it weren't red, (because that signalizes a Shelter) it would be only blue. And normally blue cards are Action-Reaction cards. That was what I was trying to say.

[DG]

Young witch/tunnel just got better.

[DStu]

So shelters are nothing like what I expected (some form of defense).  I don't mind, though.  Starting a game with a +2 Action card sounds like it opens the door for so many strategies.  Looking forward to getting my copy of Dark Ages.  Thanks for all the previews.

I'm not sure. Necropolis certainly is, but the other two? Trash when buying a Victory card and having in hand, how fast will this happen? In a standard game? With GH, Island, ok, but you still don't want to buy Duchies before Provinces, and once you start buying Provinces, it's already quite late, and you likely don't have the Hovel in hand (especially because the fact that you have it in hand reduces the chance that you can afford the Province). And later you don't mind the Estate giving you +1VP all that much.
And the Overgwrown Estate... When you trash it, you get +1card. But it is worth $1 less, so with TFB, it's not really that strong. If at all. Will depend. With Chapel you don't care for the +1card, Steward might want it, opponents Bishop might really like it. Lookout will like it. And when you don't trash, you just have -1VP compared to an Estate.

[Wolphmaniac]

Thanks for running these previews, Donald.  This has been fantastic.  You did say Dark Ages was your favorite set, but I don't think even us die-hards expected you to knock it as far out of the park as it appears to have done.  This expansion changes the whole Dominion world for sure.

I agree with this.  For regular players/isotropic addicts, Dark Ages looks boss.  For newbs, no way.  Methinks it's going to take us quite a while to sort through the rules on a lot of cases with Dark Ages cards.

[Davio]

Baron has gotten shafted so hard.

Not to mention Scout!